As soon as Sirius entered the dorm, he knew something was wrong. "Moony?" he asked tentatively.
There was no answer, but a slight sniffling sound came from Remus' bed. Sirius crept over to the closed curtains and peaked in.
Remus was huddled on his bed, curled in a ball like an over-grown cat. As the light trickled through the gap Sirius had made in the hangings, Remus froze. "What's wrong?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing," Remus sniffed.
"Really?" Sirius asked. "You're crying and you're skipping Arithmacy. As I've never known you to do either of those things, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there's probably something wrong."
"It's nothing," Remus said in a small voice.
Sirius padded over to the bed and sat down on it. "Tell me anyway," he said, patting Remus' head awkwardly.
"'S my mum," Remus said.
"What's wrong with her?" Sirius asked.
Remus rolled over so he was on his back and looked at Sirius through red-rimmed eyes. And then Remus didn't need to say what was wrong, because Sirius just knew.
"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.
Remus pushed himself up. "I knew she was sick for a while, so it shouldn't have come as such a surprise…."
"Things like that always come as a surprise," Sirius said comfortingly. "No matter how expected it is. When's the funeral?"
"Monday," Remus said.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Sirius asked.
Remus hesitated. "I- I don't know," he said. "I doubt you'd want to…"
"I offered, didn't I?" Sirius said.
A ghost of a smile flitted across Remus' face. "Thank you," he said.
"She was nice, your mum," Sirius offered.
"Yeah," Remus said softly. "She was." Then his face crumpled again.
"Come here," Sirius said, pulling Remus into a hug as he began to cry again. "It'll be okay."